Colorado Takes Health Plans To People Shopping For Groceries

The Colorado health exchange van stops at a shopping center in Fort Collins.

Eric Whitney for NPR

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Originally published on December 23, 2013 8:38 am

Despite White House and state efforts to promote the Affordable Care Act, some people still don't have health insurance, or any idea how to sign up for it.

Take Corryn Young, a 32-year-old dental hygienist in Fort Collins, Colo. She knows she needs to get health insurance but is a little vague on the details.

"What my income would qualify me for, when I need to be signed up, what type of deductibles they have to offer — that kind of stuff overwhelms me," Young says.

There are people available to help her with all of those questions. The White House has set aside more than a quarter of a billion dollars nationally to pay navigators who can give people face-to-face help — in buying coverage and in calculating subsidies to make it more affordable.

Navigators like Barbara Sigmon will sit down with Young and go over every aspect of her application. Colorado got some of the most money per capita of any state to hire navigators. There's generally a lot more in-person help available in states that are cooperating with the health care law than in states not cooperating.

Navigators are working at 57 assistance organizations across Colorado — everyone from county health departments to local clinics to the state trucking association. Meanwhile, neighboring states Nebraska and Arizona aren't embracing the health care law like Colorado is. They have just two navigator organizations each, and about $2 per uninsured person to spend on assisters. Colorado has almost $24 per person.

There are dozens of people like Sigmon across Colorado, just waiting for people to ask for help.

Business is sort of hit and miss, she says. "It's either busy or it's pretty slow. But it's starting to pick up and gain momentum as we do more of these outreach programs so that people know we're here."

Sigmon is at a table near the exit of a local supermarket in Colorado Springs. It was set up by Connect for Health, Colorado's new health insurance marketplace, and is stocked with brochures and little give-away notebooks, lip balm and stocking caps with Connect for Health's logo.

Sigmon says lots of people have heard of the marketplace but don't know about navigators.

"It's because all the advertising that's going on on TV is advertising for [the] Connect for Health website," she says. "It's not advertising for us. Every person that I've had come in is saying, 'I heard about it from my mother, my brother, my friend.' "

Connect for Health is starting to bring navigators out of their offices as part of a year-end marketing tour that's setting up tables at 20 different supermarkets and pharmacies across the state.

Corryn Young was on a break from work at the supermarket — and made exactly the kind of connection that the government and insurers hope for. She spotted the Connect for Health table with just what she needed.

"I was just getting Starbucks," she says, when she noticed the information table with a crowd of interested people around it.

"It was a perfect place to get my questions answered," Young says. "If I wanted to get signed up today, they would have walked me through it and got me signed up. I just have to go back to work."

Young made an appointment to follow up with a navigator. And Barbara Sigmon booked several appointments for people who were glad to learn she's there.

"They are very confused by the Affordable Care Act," Sigmon says. "There are so many myths out there. And especially Obamacare — they seem to think they're being persecuted ... so there's a lot of confusion."

Whether or not states are taking the federal money, private groups are investing in outreach and enrollment, too. For example, the Colorado Progressive Coalition is sending volunteers to Denver neighborhoods, knocking on every door and offering people help signing up for coverage.

But all of the effort has netted about 23,000 customers for private insurance in the state's marketplace as of Dec.14. That's only about one-fifth of the way to the state's goal of enrolling 136,000 people by the end of March.

For more answers to your questions, check the NPR Affordable Care App here.

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Transcript

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

Now, Steve and Cokie mentioned the Affordable Care Act. Today is the deadline in most states for consumers to buy health care coverage under the law if they want it to take effect January 1. HealthCare.gov and state websites that sell health insurance are seeing more traffic. But many people aren't comfortable shopping on their own.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

The White House set aside more than a quarter of a billion dollars to pay so-called navigators who give consumers face-to-face help with buying coverage and calculating subsidies. That money is not distributed evenly nationwide; there's generally a lot more help available in states that are cooperating with the health care law.

Eric Whitney reports from Colorado, one of the states that has embraced the new law.

ERIC WHITNEY, BYLINE: Despite effort by the White House and states to get the word out, and a rapidly approaching deadline to get new coverage, some people still don't have health insurance, and have no idea where to start.

CORRYN YOUNG: It's very overwhelming.

WHITNEY: Corryn Young is a 32-year-old dental hygienist in Fort Collins. She knows she needs to take care of the health insurance thing but is a little vague on the details.

YOUNG: Like what my income would qualify me for, when I need to be signed up, what type of deductibles they have to offer - that kind of stuff overwhelms me.

WHITNEY: There are people available to help Young with all those questions, navigators like Barbara Sigmon, who will sit down with her and go over every aspect of her application. Colorado got some of the most money per capita of any state to hire navigators. There are dozens across the state like Sigmon just waiting for people to ask for help. How's business? You been busy?

BARBARA SIGMON: It's sort of hit or miss. It's either busy or it's pretty slow. But it's starting to pick up and gain momentum as we do more of these outreach programs, so that people know we're here.

WHITNEY: Sigmon sits at a table near the exit of a local supermarket trolling for customers. It was set up by Connect for Health, the state's new health insurance marketplace. They have brochures and little give-away notebooks, lip balm and stocking caps with the Connect for Health logo on them. Sigmon says lots of people have heard of the marketplace but don't know navigators like her are looking for people to help.

SIGMON: It's because all the advertising that's going on on TV is advertising for Connect for Health website. It's not advertising for us. Every person that I've had to come in is say I heard about it from my mother, my brother, my friend, my whatever. And there's been a couple that come in with a newspaper.

WHITNEY: So Connect for Health is now starting to bring navigators out of their offices as part of a year-end marketing tour that's setting up tables at 20 different supermarkets and pharmacies across the state. Which is totally working for Corryn Young. Today, when she was at the supermarket on a break from work, there was the Connect for Health table with just what she needed.

YOUNG: And I was just getting Starbucks, but I just kind of stopped and started reading and a perfect place to get my questions answered. If I wanted to get signed up today, they would have walked me through it and gotten me signed up. I just have to go back to work.

WHITNEY: Young made an appointment to follow up with a navigator. And Barbara Sigmon, the navigator at the supermarket in Colorado Springs, booked several appointments for herself. She says people are glad to learn she's there to help.

SIGMON: They are very confused by the Affordable Care Act. There are so many myths out there. And especially Obamacare, they seem to think that they're being persecuted to making them have insurance and all this, so there's a lot of confusion.

WHITNEY: There are navigators working at 57 assistance organizations across Colorado, everyone from county health departments to local clinics to the state trucking association. Neighboring states, Nebraska and Arizona, aren't embracing the health care law like Colorado is. They have just two navigator organizations each and about $2 per uninsured person to spend on assisters. Colorado has almost $24 per person.

Whether or not states are taking the federal money, private groups are investing in outreach and enrollment too.

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #1: Hi, how are you?

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #2: Good, how are you guys?

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #1: Good.

WHITNEY: The Colorado Progressive Coalition is sending volunteers to Denver neighborhoods, literally knocking on every door and offering people help signing up for Obamacare coverage. In Colorado, all the effort has netted about 23,000 customers for private insurance in the state's marketplace so far. The state's goal it so enroll 136,000 people by the end of March. For NPR News, I'm Eric Whitney.

GREENE: And Eric's story is part of a collaboration between NPR and Kaiser Health News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.